This Merit Badge
is Required to earn the Eagle Scout Rank

Choose an item that your family might want to purchase that
is considered a major expense.

Write a plan that tells how your family would save money for
the purchase identified in requirement 1a.

Discuss the plan with your merit badge counselor

Discuss the plan with your family

Discuss how other family needs must be considered in this
plan.

Develop a written shopping strategy for the purchase identified
in requirement 1a.

Determine the quality of the item or service (using consumer
publications or rating systems).

Comparison shop for the item. Find out where you can buy
the item for the best price. (Provide prices from at least two
different price sources.) Call around; study ads. Look for a
sale or discount coupon. Consider alternatives. Can you buy
the item used? Should you wait for a sale?

Do the following:

Prepare a budget reflecting your expected income (allowance,
gifts, wages), expenses, and savings for a period of 13 consecutive
weeks.

If income exceeds budget expenses, state how you would use
the excess money (new goal, savings).

Track and record your actual income, expenses, and savings
for 13 consecutive weeks (the same 13-week period for which
you budgeted). (You may use the forms provided in this pamphlet,
devise your own, or use a computer-generated version.) When
complete, present the records showing the results to your merit
badge counselor.

Compare your budget with your actual income and expenses
to under- stand when your budget worked and when it did not
work. With your merit badge counselor, discuss what you might
do differently the next time.

Discuss with your merit badge counselor FIVE of the following concepts:

The emotions you feel when you receive money.

Your understanding of how the amount of money you have with
you affects your spending habits.

Your thoughts when you buy something new and your thoughts about
the same item three months later. Explain the concept of buyer's
remorse.

How hunger affects you when shopping for food items (snacks,
groceries).

Your experience of an item you have purchased after seeing or
hearing advertisements for it. Did the item work as well as advertised?

Your understanding of what happens when you put money into a
savings account.

Charitable giving. Explain its purpose and your thoughts about
it.

What you can do to better manage your money.

Explain the following to your merit badge counselor:

The differences between saving and investing, including reasons
for using one over the other.

The concepts of return on investment and risk and how they are
related.

The concepts of simple interest and compound interest.

The concept of diversification in investing.

Why it is important to save and invest for retirement.

Explain to your merit badge counselor what the following investments
are and how each works:

Common stocks

Mutual funds

Life insurance

A certificate of deposit (CD)

A savings account

A U.S. savings bond

Explain to your counselor why people might purchase the following
types of insurance and how they work:

Automobile

Health

Homeowner's/renter's

Whole life and term life

Explain to your merit badge counselor the following:

What a loan is, what interest is, and how the annual percentage
rate (APR) measures the true cost of a loan.

The different ways to borrow money.

The differences between a charge card, debit card, and credit
card. What are the costs and pitfalls of using these financial tools?
Explain why it is unwise to make only the minimum payment on your
credit card.

Demonstrate to your merit badge counselor your understanding of
time management by doing the following:

Write a "to do" list of tasks or activities, such as homework
assignments, chores, and personal projects, that must be done in
the coming week. List these in order of importance to you.

Make a seven-day calendar or schedule. Put in your set activities,
such as school classes, sports practices or games, jobs or chores,
and/or Scout or church or club meetings, then plan when you will
do all the tasks from your "to do" list between your set activities.

Follow the one-week schedule you planned. Keep a daily diary
or journal during each of the seven days of this week's activities,
writing down when you completed each of the tasks on your "to do"
list compared to when you scheduled them.

With your merit badge counselor, review your "to do" list, one-week
schedule, and diary/journal to understand when your schedule worked
and when it did not work. Discuss what you might do differently
the next time.

Prepare a written project plan demonstrating the steps below, including
the desired outcome. This is a project on paper, not a real-life project.
Examples could include planning a camping trip, developing a community
service project or a school or religious event, or creating an annual
patrol plan with additional activities not already included in the troop
annual plan. Discuss your completed project plan with your merit badge
counselor.

Define the project. What is your goal?

Develop a timeline for your project that shows the steps you
must take from beginning to completion.

Describe your project.

Develop a list of resources. Identify how these resources will
help you achieve your goal.

Develop a budget for your project.

Do the following:

Choose a career you might want to enter after high school or
college graduation. Discuss with your counselor the needed qualifications,
education, skills, and experience.

Explain to your counselor what the associated costs might be
to pursue this career, such as tuition, school or training supplies,
and room and board. Explain how you could prepare for these costs
and how you might make up for any shortfall.

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